BOSTON — In his previous two NHL stops, Minnesota and Montreal, forward Benoit Pouliot never lived up to the expectations that came with being selected fourth overall in 2005.

Even last season when he put up a career-highs with 30 points and 79 games played, he found himself as a healthy scratch for half of Montreal’s playoff series with the Bruins.

Although Pouliot might be off to a slow start in his first training camp with the Bruins (he has one assist in preseason action), head coach Claude Julien says he’s going to give the 6-foot-3, 199-pound winger some leeway.

“He’s a guy coming into our organization with a different kind of game that he’s maybe used to, just like [Chris] Kelly and [Rich] Peverley,” said Julien. “You know we all said before the playoffs started that when we got those two guys they didn’t bring that much, they were just other bodies. But when they got into the playoffs they were pretty good players, so sometimes you need patience and … I know he can skate, I know he can shoot. And you know, the rest is going to be up to him to show us that he’s adapting and that he’s going to be a better player and we have to allow him that opportunity and then when that opportunity is given and we feel he’s had enough time then we make those decisions.”

David
I have seen Pouliot play once, but he certainly didn’t have Caron’s jump/hustle, the other night. I think Clark and Sauve’s effort, against Montreal, was superior as well. Julien can tell people what he wants, but he’s proved in the past that if you don’t check and work hard, your not a Bruin. I don’t think winning a Stanley Cup will cause him to change. I have faith that Julien, Chirarelli, and Neely will keep the best guys.

For the 10 minutes I saw of the 1 televised preseason bruins game the morning after it was broadcast, I saw pouloit take a penalty, make a lazy play and make a poor check. I wasn’t impressed, but watching someone play for 2 minutes is not really a fair way to assess the value of a player.